Bossier City holds workshop on $12 public‑works fee as city reviews multi‑year enterprise fund shortfalls

BOSSIER CITY, La. — City officials and dozens of residents met in a public workshop to review a $12 “public works” fee now appearing on water bills and to discuss options for addressing persistent shortfalls in the city’s Public Services and Sanitation enterprise fund.

City staff presented the fee’s legal and budgetary history, what services the charge covers and alternatives that could replace the fee, including a property millage that would require voter approval. Residents who spoke during public comment raised concerns about service levels, the fee’s impact on renters, and whether apartment owners would pocket the change rather than lower rents.

Amanda Nottingham, a member of the city administration who led the presentation, said the enterprise fund (also called the Public Services and Sanitation Fund) pays for public‑facing and behind‑the‑scenes services in streets and drainage, solid waste, animal services and vegetation/mosquito control. Nottingham said the fee for services other than curbside trash is $12 per account and that the city separated the sanitation and public works line items on bills to improve transparency. She said that fee has been assessed to water accounts since February and that many residents first saw it on the March bill.

Nottingham reviewed the fund’s history. She said a city ordinance authorizing fees for maintenance, cleanliness and sanitation dates to 1958 and that an ordinance in 2001…